77th Anniversary Dinner for the Cumberland Society
ITEM 1. FRIDAY 1ST, MAY, 1812, His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland in the Chair. Stewards. H.R.H. Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. The Rt, Mounsey Esqr. Tho. Monkhouse Esqr. Josh. Lowden Esqr. Heny. Oliphant Esqr. Isaac Armstrong Esqr. Stephen Morton Esqr. Wm. Sanderson Esqr. Tho. Mounsey Esq. John Carruthers Esqr. Dinner on Table at 5 o' Clock precisely. Tickets 15/s Each. No. (With an engraving of ULLSWATER from GABBAROW PARK) ITEM 2. The signature of 'Ernest' H.R.H The Duke of Cumberland, cut from the end of an autographed letter. ITEM 3. An original envelope addressed by the King (the Duke of Cumberland became the King of Hanover in 1837) to 'His Grace The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos', signed 'Ernest' on the lower left. Also annotated: King of Hanover, July 28th 1843. The envelope also has the King's black wax seal.
205x156mm. One light cardboard sheet beautifully inscribed with a lovely engraving of Ullswater by Silvester sc. Very lightly age browned but overall in very nice condition. With a manuscript ink inscription price for £10.10.0 at the top right hand corner. Blank on the verso except for an ink inscription; W. Warrington.
- The Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand was a well-known London landmark, as well as being a dining room of repute. The Tavern after it was rebuilt in 1790 had a large meeting/function room that could seat up to two thousand or more. The famous cooks, F. Collingwood and J. Woolams (images 3&4 below), authors of the cookery book 'The Universal Cook' were serving their tenure there at the time of this Cumberland Society dinner. The Tavern had two entrances, one on the Strand and the other on Arundel St. It is referred to in Stow's 'Survey of London and Westminster' of 1720 as boasting associations with Johnson, Boswell and Reynolds. The meeting hall at the Tavern was long associated with radical politics. Sympathisers of the French Revolution gathered there in the 1790s to commemorate the storming of the Bastille. Used as well as headquarters for Francis Burdett and other ardent reformers. It is also recorded that in the year 1799 the Tavern was the No.1 Grand Master’s Lodge, in the correct list of all the Lodges in London of the most ancient and honourable fraternity of free and accepted Masons of England. His Royal Highness Ernest Augustus, The Duke of Cumberland, who presided over this grand 77th Anniversary Dinner of the Cumberland Society was born on 5th June, 1771 and was by birth the 5th, but in survivor-ship the 2nd son of King George 111 and Queen Charlotte. He became King of Hanover on the death of his elder brother, King William the 1V, in 1837. He died in 1851. The Cumberland Society was formed by his Grandfather the Duke of Cumberland. (1721-65) In 1775 his son also the Duke of Cumberland & Strathearn founded the Cumberland Society Fleet for racing on the Thames. This was the precursor to the Royal Thames Yacht Club, formed in 1830 under the patronage King William IV. It is the oldest continually operating yacht club in the UK today. The present Duke whose dinner invitation is on view here, was carrying on the business of a venerable tradition that was the Cumberland Society. Three pertinent rare ephemeral items that have lasted well.
click on image to enlarge
Ephemera category
ref number:
11053